Breaking
the Binding
and Yo te cuido (I take care of you) at the Museum of
Contemporary Art San Diego are two exhibitions by completely different
generations of artists, but the ties that bind these art works together are so
strong, that I have chosen to write about them together.
Celia Álvarez Muñoz
and Griselda
Rosas are both Latinx. Munoz is
from Texas and part of the group reclaiming the term Chicano with ties to the
borderlands. Rosas lives on both sides of the SD/TJ border and refers often in
her work to the colonial period of Mexican history.
They are both women and in fact the third set of women showing at MCASD in La
Jolla since it reopened earlier this year. Niki de Saint
Phalle in the 1960s and Alexis
Smith: The American Way and this will be followed by the fall show
of Kelly Akashi, a Los Angeles artist.
Rosas grew up with her female relatives involved in the fashion industry as a way to make a living. Her own works are heavily stitched and embellished. Muñoz’s bolts of cloth and constructed costumes with heavily sexual overtones fill a whole room of the museum.
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| Celia Alvarez Muñoz |
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| Celia Alvarez Muñoz |
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| Celia Alvarez Muñoz |
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| Celia Alvarez Muñoz (detail from above) glitter g-string |
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| Celia Alvarez Muñoz |
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| Celia Alvarez Muñoz |
Celia Alvarez Muñoz
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| Celia Alvarez Muñoz |
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| Celia Alvarez Muñoz |
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| Celia Alvarez Muñoz |
Muñoz is a conceptual artist but also a narrative artist which is unusual and certainly Rosas is also a story teller. But Munoz uses language and the museum installation of her work has been brilliant; blowing up images and adhering them to the walls in a bright bold inviting way that leads you through the spaces. She describes her work as ‘moments and messages” and the exhibition as “connecting points”. The works continue to morph with new meaning each time they are shown. Muñoz seemed to me to be very in the moment and I believe this in reflected her style which is almost like political cartoons. The title of the show tells you that you are being broken out of the bindings of the verbal and into the visual.
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| Celia Alvarez Muñoz |
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| Celia Alvarez Muñoz |
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| Celia Alvarez Muñoz |
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| Celia Alvarez Muñoz |
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| Celia Alvarez Muñoz |
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| Celia Alvarez Muñoz |
Muñoz loved the immediacy of her childhood
paper dolls and how she could change their outfits at will. Her work is full
mischief. The toy train (above) inspired by her father is an example the
combination of political statement ( a migrant train derailment) with the
whimsey of youth. Rosas changed to 2-d work when
she gave birth to her son and had less time and space to work on her sculpture. Her son’s drawings are
often a starting point for her. The
large sculptures in this show are a wonderful return to 3-d work and the series
of slingshots refer not only to toys but to weapons.
Griselda
Rosas is showing all new works in a show that was actually delayed due to the
pandemic. This is much larger work than we have seen from her before. The 2-d
works seems to have more room to breathe and be more painterly but they follows
the same narrative line incorporating animals and figures. The large needles' eyes covered in concrete and textures with terracotta painted lace have double
points. They are about the fabric of her
life divided between two cultures - San Diego and Tijuana - and historical times
and the present
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| Griselda Rosas |
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| Griselda Rosas (with son's under drawing still showing) |
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| Griselda Rosas |
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| Griselda Rosas |
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| Griselda Rosas |
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| Griselda Rosas |
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| Griselda Rosas |
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| Griselda Rosas |
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| Griselda Rosas ( with a coin operated rocking horse) |
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| Griselda Rosas |
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| Griselda Rosas |
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| Griselda Rosas (detail from above, with rubbings and screen printing) |
One particularly revealing statement by Celia Alvarez Muñoz was about when she was young. There was an alter with saints in her mother’s room. One day she knocked all their heads off. Her mother never scolded her. But she commented that it was difficult to believe as you had to pray so often and so hard for your wishes. She described Patrion Saints like Art Patrons. With collectors, you have to use sales techniques. She comments you better “learn yoga and learn to speak in tongues” to deal with art patrons.
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